When the Year 12 Internship Programme at St. Catherine’s was first introduced and run by the Futures Team, the goal was simple: to give students the opportunity to step beyond the classroom and experience the world of work first-hand. 

But what began as a pilot in 2024 has since evolved into something much larger. 

Today, the St. Cats Career Exploration Programme spans three Year groups, connects students with leading organisations across multiple sectors, and provides a structured pathway that allows our young people to explore careers before making important decisions about university and their future. 

Most importantly, its growth has been driven by the enthusiasm of our students themselves. 

From a Pilot Programme to a Growing Opportunity 

The journey began in 2024 when parent community members Mr Alexis Pantazis and Mr Emilios Markou (HellasDirect) approached the school with a shared belief in the value of workplace experience for young people. As a result of this enthusiasm and with community support, St. Catherine’s launched its pilot Year 12 Internship Programme, with 13 companies and 32 students, each of whom completed a week-long placement in a professional environment. 

The response was overwhelmingly positive as students returned with greater confidence, a deeper understanding of workplace culture, and valuable insights into industries they had previously only encountered through research or classroom discussion. 

As word spread, interest grew. 

Fast forward to 2026, the programme has expanded to 21 host organisations with approximately 45 Year 12 students benefiting from yearly placements with them. Over the past three years, more than 120 students have participated in meaningful workplace experiences, confirming the value of experiential learning as part of a modern education. 

Yet perhaps the most important outcome was the question KS4 students began asking: 

“Can younger students have opportunities like this too?” 

The answer became the foundation for what is now the St. Cats Career Exploration Programme. 

A Journey That Begins Earlier Than You Think 

When we talk about career exploration at St. Catherine's, the story does not actually begin in Year 10 or Year 12. It begins the moment students arrive in the Upper School. 

In Year 7, students meet professionals through a "Guess Who I Am?" classroom activity — a game that sparks curiosity and opens their eyes to the sheer variety of jobs that exist in the world. By Years 8 and 9, that curiosity is deepened through structured panel discussions, where professionals working across different areas of the same sector — most recently, environmental careers — share their experiences and answer students' questions. Students begin to understand that a single field can hold dozens of different paths. 

This gradual scaffolding matters. Career readiness is not built in a single moment. It is accumulated, layer by layer, year by year. 

Alongside the visits and placements, students in Years 10 and 11 also benefit from dedicated careers programmes in the classroom — structured spaces where they explore their values, strengths, and emerging interests. Because the external opportunities only become truly meaningful when students know something about themselves first. 

Year 10: Opening Doors 

The experiential St. Cats Career Exploration Programme begins in Year 10. 

At this stage, the focus is not on choosing a career but on discovering possibilities. 

Students visit host organisations as a year group, allowing them to observe professional environments without the pressure of linking every experience to a future career choice. These visits encourage curiosity and broaden perspectives. 

A visit to a company such as the recent one to Goody’s-Everest, for example, demonstrates that a single organisation relies on a wide range of professionals—from communications specialists and IT teams, to architects, engineers, human resources professionals and business leaders who work as a team. 

Students begin to understand that careers are rarely as straightforward as they may appear from the outside. 

These experiences help them build a broader understanding of the world of work and create a foundation for future exploration. 

Year 11: Turning Curiosity into Direction 

By Year 11, students begin making decisions that will influence their IB Diploma pathways and, eventually, their university applications. 

This is where exploration starts to become more intentional. 

Through the Day-on-the-Job Programme, which originated with the KS4 Senate, students are matched with a host organisation aligned with their emerging interests and spend a day immersed in a professional environment. 

What makes the programme particularly special is that students themselves help organise it. A team of student organisers researches opportunities, works with host companies and their fellow students, and helps match them with placements based on individual interests and aspirations. The process encourages students not only to explore careers, but also to develop leadership, communication and organisational skills. 

For many, it is their first opportunity to test whether a career they have imagined genuinely resonates with them. And while the pilot in June 2025, involved 45 students and 12 companies, one year on, there are 21 companies involved and 85 students registered for June 2026.  

Year 12: Experiencing the Professional World 

The Year 12 Internship Programme represents the culmination of the journey. 

Students spend a full week within a host organisation, gaining meaningful exposure to professional life and contributing to real workplace projects. 

By this stage, students arrive with confidence and workplace expectations, knowing how to engage professionally, and often with a sense of what they hope to gain from the experience. The internship is no longer simply about observation. It becomes an opportunity to deepen understanding and make informed decisions about future study and career pathways. 

For many students, the Year 12 Internship experience can also provide valuable material for university personal statements and admissions interviews. More importantly, it helps them speak authentically about their interests because those interests have been tested through real-world experience. 

Real Impact, Real Decisions 

One of the clearest indicators of success is when an experience helps a student refine their future direction. 

For graduating student Lowri Kemp, an internship placement with the NGO Prolepsis sparked an interest that ultimately influenced her decision to pursue a career in Public Health.  

For another graduating student, Georgie Lekkas, an internship placement with Pieris Architects provided much more than workplace experience. 

“Although I already knew I was interested in architecture before interning with Pieris Architects, the experience completely changed my understanding of what architecture looks like in the workplace. It opened my eyes not only to the reality of the profession, but also to the many different career paths within architecture. In that sense, the internship felt like my first step into architecture as a career, rather than just architecture as a discipline.” 

Through the programme, he developed a meaningful professional relationship with the team and came to view them as mentors as he explored his academic and career aspirations. Their guidance not only helped him gain a deeper understanding of the profession but also provided valuable support when he applied to highly competitive Architecture courses.  

Experiences like these demonstrate that the programme is not about encouraging students to commit to any career path early. Instead, it is about helping them make more informed decisions through exposure, experience and reflection.  

Sometimes a placement confirms an existing ambition.  

Sometimes it reveals a new one. 

Both outcomes are equally valuable. 

The Role of Parents and Our Community 

The success of the programme would not be possible without the support of our parent and alumni community. 

Parents who open their workplaces to students provide something that cannot be replicated in a classroom: authentic insight into professional life. 

Every host organisation broadens the opportunities available to students and strengthens the diversity of sectors represented within the programme. As the programme continues to grow, we welcome new partners to join us in supporting the next generation of St Catherine’s students. (If you want to offer our students a workplace experience, please contact us at: futures@stcatherines.gr) 

Looking Ahead 

The next phase of the programme is focused on building deeper and longer-lasting connections between students and professionals. 

We hope to develop mentorship opportunities that allow students to build relationships with industry experts and begin developing professional networks before entering higher education. 

Looking further ahead, we envision a thriving community where former students return as mentors, hosts and industry partners themselves. 

In this way, the Career Exploration Programme becomes more than a series of workplace experiences. It becomes a living network connecting students, parents, alumni, and employers across generations. 

Ultimately, this is the purpose of Futures: to ensure that by the time a St. Catherine’s student sits down to write a university personal statement or walks into an admissions interview, they have more than ideas to draw upon. They have real experiences. 

They should be able to speak with confidence about the careers they have explored, the environments they have experienced, and the future they are beginning to shape for themselves. 

Because career exploration should not begin when students leave school. 

It should begin while they are still discovering who they are.